Lychee is an exotic fruit that grows in clusters on the fruit trees of Asia. The fruits are medium-sized, with a bumpy skin of a dark red color, with a bone resembling a pupil. For this similarity, the lychee got the name - "dragon's eye". The pulp is light, reminiscent of jelly in consistency, sweet and sour, refreshing taste, perfectly quenching thirst.
Historical reference
Lychee is an ancient fruit known in China since the 2nd century BC. e., which was valued so highly that it was used as a currency for buying and selling. Over time, lychee spread to other Asian countries, where it became an equally popular and beloved fruit.
But the Europeans learned about lychee much later - only in the 17th century. "Chinese plum" - this is how the Spanish writer Gonzalez de Mendoza called this outlandish fruit. Today lychee grows in countries with the most suitable climates such as India, China, Japan, Africa, USA.
Beneficial features
Lychee fruits are a real treasure trove of vitamins and minerals, among which vitamin C and potassium are in the first place, which makes the fruit useful for people with heart problems, and vitamin PP (nicotinic acid) protects against atherosclerosis. With prolonged and regular use of lychee, cholesterol levels decrease, digestion is normalized.
The fruits have a positive effect in the treatment of respiratory diseases, tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus. The fruit, rich in proteins, dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates, helps in the fight against anemia and obesity, and a decoction from the peel is recommended to increase the tone. In China, lychee is used to treat cancer, in India it is an aphrodisiac.
Despite such a number of positive characteristics, you should not overuse the amount of fruit. For children, the daily norm of fruits should not exceed 100 g.
In addition to medicinal properties, lychee fruits are irreplaceable in cosmetics. They are used in nourishing and moisturizing masks for the face, hair, and products for problem skin.
How to choose and eat correctly?
When buying lychee, first of all, you need to make sure that the fruit itself is intact and pay attention to the color of the peel. If the peel is red in color, moderately soft, without visible cracks or damage, this is just what you need. In the case when the fruit was picked unripe and it lay for a long time, the peel turns dark red, and the taste resembles fermented juice. Before eating the fruit, you need to wash it, peel it, remove the bone, put the pulp on a plate - the lychee is ready to eat.
This fruit is a unique culinary product. It is used both for desserts, pastries, ice cream and drinks, and in the form of sauces for meat and fish dishes. If you add lychee fruits to champagne, vodka or soft drinks, you get an extraordinary taste. For storage, lychees are dried, frozen or canned with syrup.
